Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the last Fifty Years: An AutobiographyThompson, Samuel
History
Reminiscences of a Canadian Pioneer for the last Fifty Years: An Autobiography
Thompson, Samuel
Frontier and pioneer life -- Ontario; Thompson, Samuel, 1810-1886; Toronto (Ont.) -- Biography; Toronto (Ont.) -- History
"The health of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland" having been proposed by His Honour Mayor John P.
Bigelow, was received, as the Boston account of the Jubilee says, "with
nine such cheers as would have made Her Majesty, had she been present,
forget that she was beyond the limits of her own dominions; and the band
struck up 'God save the Queen,' as if to complete the illusion." The
compliment was acknowledged by Lord Elgin, who said:
"Allow me, gentlemen, as there seems to be in America some
little misconception on these points, to observe, that we,
monarchists though we be, enjoy the advantages of
self-government, of popular elections, of deliberative
assemblies, with their attendant blessings of caucuses, stump
orators, lobbyings and log-rollings--(Laughter)--and I am not
sure but we sometimes have a little pipe-laying--(renewed
laughter)--almost, if not altogether, in equal perfection with
yourselves. I must own, gentlemen, that I was exceedingly amused
the other day, when one of the gentlemen who did me the honour
to visit me at Toronto, bearing the invitation of the Common
Council and Corporation of the City of Boston, observed to me,
with the utmost gravity, that he had been delighted to find,
upon entering our Legislative Assembly at Toronto, that there
was quite as much liberty of speech there as in any body of the
kind he had ever visited. (Laughter.) I could not help thinking
that if my kind friend would only favour us with his company in
Canada for a few weeks, we should be able to demonstrate, to his
entire satisfaction, that the tongue is quite as 'unruly' a
'member' on the north side of the line as on this side. (Renewed
laughter.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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